Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-236) and index

1. Race, Wealth, and Equality -- 2. A Sociology of Wealth and Racial Inequality -- 3. Studying Wealth -- 4. Wealth and Inequality in America -- 5. A Story of Two Nations: Race and Wealth -- 6. The Structuring of Racial Inequality in American Life -- 7. Getting Along: Renewing America's Commitment to Racial Justice

The rise of the black middle class is heralded as evidence of greater racial equality, but why do middle-class blacks possess only fifteen cents for every dollar of wealth held by middle-class whites? Why do 61% of black households have no financial assets at all - twice the rate for white households? Black Wealth / White Wealth offers a powerful portrait of racial inequality based on an analysis of private wealth. Melvin Oliver and Thomas Shapiro analyze wealth - total assets and debts rather than income alone - to uncover deep and persistent racial inequality in America, and they show how public policies fail to redress the problem

Drawing on data from over 12,000 households and in-depth interviews with a range of black and white families, the authors chart the ways in which systematic economic barriers have discouraged many blacks and impaired their ability to accumulate wealth. These barriers - historically low wages and limited access to capital, local and state policies, the rise of the modern suburb, and the making of the urban ghetto - limit opportunities for a better life

Society for the Study of Social Problems C. Wright Mills Award, 1995

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